British Couple Reacts to The Battle of Midway 1942: Told from the Japanese Perspective (1/3) Part 2!

[@sld1776]

George Gay survived the war, but retired from the Navy as soon as he could. He became a civilian pilot, and died in 1994. He asked his family to scatter his ashes over the battle, to rest with his squadron mates.

[@ThePhillyspade]

You have to watch the American perspective part 3 to get the total scoop of what happened. .a lot of luck and chance was involved in the outcome

[@eodyn7]

They will

[@rbtsubs]

Don't forget Hornet's planes getting lost

[@visualdon]

The late recon plane at 3:49 which was luanched from the Cruiser Tone actually discovered the Americans because it was late. If it had been launched on time, it would not have spotted the American until even later (on its return leg of the journey). But becuase it was late, the pilot decided to turn around earlier than planed, he may have been trying to make up for lost time or it was due to bad navigation. Either way, this resulted in that plane discovering the Americans sooner than it would have if the original search partern had been conducted on time and on the right route. Infact, one of the other search planes that was launched on time (from the Chukuma Cruiser if I recall correctly) flew right over the americans and missed them completely.

[@cliffcannon]

Amazing to realize this all happened 81 years ago next week...something else that was concealed from Adm. Nagumo was that the U.S. aircraft that would destroy three out of four of his carriers had _already_ been launched by about 9:10 a.m. No IJN attack launched after 8:00 a.m. against the American carriers could have prevented the arrival of those aircraft over the Kido Butai; the battle-and the war-was already lost for the Imperial Japanese Navy.

[@WNC_BUCKEYE]

The battle was lost but not the war. It was the attrition of the Solomons Campaign that turned the tide for good. I would say the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, November 12-15 was the last chance for the Nips.

[@Niitroxyde]

@@WNC_BUCKEYE There's no way the Japanese would have forced the Americans into surrender before their industry could catch up to Japan. They had no capacity to launch a land invasion of the US in a near future, and that's to even assume they would have succeded if they had, which they would have probably not. The US is a big place, bigger than Western Russia that the Germans, being right next to it, could not afford to conquer because of its size and the strain it put on the logistics so Japan who has to travel across the entire Pacific ? No way. Not to mention the US military wasn't the only threat, the population being armed would have been a huge deal as well. Japan was doomed as soon as the first bombs (well, torpedoes technically) dropped on Pearl Harbor.

[@williamclark6555]

This reminds me of my father's military service. He lost a ship at Pearl Harbor and another just before the Battle of Guadalcanal at Espiritu Santos. His third ship almost sank after being hit by a German U-boat torpedo during the D-Day invasion at Normandy. Everyone always said he had a guardian angel on his shoulder.

[@ryanhampson673]

Wow. My grandfather was stationed on the Indianapolis. He caught a bad case of pneumonia and had to be hospitalized and he missed her leaving on that final mission.

[@feemster8861]

I would highly recommend all of Montemayor's videos on WW2. In my opinion he is the best. This is a great series if you are not familiar with these battles. Other channels are Operations Room, Epic TV History and Kings and Generals. This is what it looked like it the 1976 Movie Midway.

[@rg20322]

The US planes were so ill prepared and such brave men just cut down, but they were heroes sacrificing.

[@drewwar9344]

They did what all heros do they held the line knowing they were going to die

[@robertwilson2007]

I think the first three to four attacks were sent in as decoys and distractions until the full force of the carrier launched planes were sent in on mass with the proper attack configuration of planes to do the most damage.

[@Fergus_0703]

@@robertwilson2007 nope, they were not decoys. It was just simply luck that the dive bombers arrived althogether. But I won’t spoil it for the next video.

[@crystaldbj]

@@robertwilson2007 No. It was a shitshow. They were completely uncoordinated. Just men doing their duty, while hoping it would turn out all right for their side. Only one of the original 30 pilots who completed their duty in that first wave ever knew that their actions would have any impact on the battle. The other 29 died. Ensign Gay watched the battle unfold around him as he floated in the water. Miraculously, he was later picked up by the Americans. The first, second and third waves all faced their suicidal attacks with no knowledge of the other American attacks, and no reason to believe that their sacrifices would amount to any advantage for the Americans. Had any of them reasonably turned around and retreated, it would probably have resulted in a Japanese victory. Sad to think of all these heroes dying almost certainly believing their sacrifice was futile, yet was actually assuring American success.

[@JoeXTheXJuggalo1]

In the line of duty you go and fight the enemy not knowing if you will be live or died, win or lose. You do it because because it's you duty no matter the cost.

[@dwcobb43]

I am a volunteer at the USS Hornet museum. The ship named after one of the carriers at Midway. We have displays up about the battle of Midway. Thank you for doing this series

[@JoeXTheXJuggalo1]

Ah yes the 1943 CV-12 Essex-Class USS Hornet. She was named after the 1940 CV-8 Yorktown-Class USS Hornet. A friend of mine who knows lots about WWII navy. mainly the Pacific fleet due to his grandfather serving on a ship in the Pacific theater. He told me that when the US made new ships and renamed them after ships that was sunk it threw the Japanese off because same a ship with the name of a ship that they "thought" they sank.

[@iKvetch558]

I really hope that you folks will react to the other videos in this series...they are all equally good and important to watch.💯👍

[@runrafarunthebestintheworld]

There's only one more. Pfft

[@joelarnold3234]

There’s a bunch covering other battles.

[@iKvetch558]

There are 3 videos in the series...not 2...they have only reacted to the first one, and so they have 2 left to react to.

[@havensmm9308]

@@runrafarunthebestintheworld There's two more. They only watched part 1 (split into two videos). They need parts 2 and 3.

[@Gutslinger]

I couldn't imagine being one of those pilots, entering a situation that is certain death. So sad that many in the earlier waves were unable to set off their torpedoes. And the ones that did, missed.

[@ElvisRose_]

There's several movies about The Battle of Midway and the one from 2019 called Midway is quite accurate in that it does not over exaggerate the actions of any one man so the makes their actions all the more heroic. Mountemayor does an extraordinary job with this series.

[@daleowen2606]

there's two movies about this battle both called Midway. One is from the 1970s I think and one is pretty recently made. Both are great movies about this battle

[@prischm5462]

The contribution of the American code breakers cannot be overestimated. Because of them Admiral Nimitz knew in advance the Japanese were headed for Midway, so he essentially sent everything he had up to ambush the Japanese fleet. Nimitz ordered round-the-clock shifts to repair the Yorktown, which came into Pearl Harbor very badly damaged just a few days earlier. It was amazing that the Yorktown was able to join the Enterprise and the Hornet for the ambush. I highly recommend the 2019 movie called "Midway" as being very accurate and realistic.

[@wanderer85295]

I had 4 uncles who are or rather were ww2 vets. May they all rest in peace now . Of them 1went down with the Arizona in pearl harbor . 1 was one of the dive bombers in the battle of midway and other battles in the south pacific he survived the war . 1 was killed on Omaha Beach. And the 4th was a marine who was involved with the battle of Iwo Jima and spent the entirety of the war in the south pacific and the Philippines . Of the 2 who survived I only really knew the last one the other who had survived I met him a couple of times but him and his entire family died on Christmas eve in a house fire when I was 5 y.o. so I don't remember him at all. My father who was the youngest of the 5 boys was only 15 when the war ended so he wasn't allowed to enlist. Him and his brother the uncle that I knew remained very close until my uncles death in the early 1990s. He had told me on a couple of occasions of the hell he had seen . I interviewed him in 1987 as part of a ap history assignment , and that was when I showed me his uniform and the medals and such that he had received, I had no idea before that how decorated he was or the extent of what he had seen and been through. He had received 3 purple hearts the silver star the bronze star the medal of valor and several combat ribbons as well as others I cannot now recall. He had taken some photographs ( primarily of the aftermath and of others he had served with during non combat times. ) he spoke with a soft tone and great reverence for those who did not return and it was the only time I had ever seen this larger than life massive man shed a tear. And he said something I'll never forget. " I fear for your children and their children because those of us who went through this hell will all have passed on in that time and another war will surely occur ." And he put his huge hand on my shoulder as he stood up from the table and walked away leaving me sitting there with this photo album and a cigar box full of medals to ponder his words in a state of absolute loss. At his funeral I saw my father for the first and only time in my life break down and sob as he embraced his sister knowing that from his family they were the only 2 still alive and both were aging . I cannot imagine this , perhaps they are once again now all together in a far better place than here now. May they all rest in peace and to all who took the time to read this comment. May peace be the journey .

[@GT-mq1dx]

Sorry for the loss of your family members who served, my only great uncle served and was able to return home safely after the war. These men were real heroes and patriots. Unfortunately what your uncle said to you all those many years ago will probably happen again and maybe sooner than later. I am currently starting to have some angst because of what’s going on in Europe right now. The $h!t always seems to hit the fan and start a domino effect in that damn place that affects so much of the rest of the world.

[@babyfry4775]

My condolences for your great losses. Your uncles served with honor and are indeed in Heaven. No greater honor than to lay down one’s life for his friend. Your uncles are all heroes. God bless you!😪

[@wanderer85295]

@@GT-mq1dx yes and it's my thought that the reason why it seems that the $hit hitting the fan begins in Europe is because it is the middle , the crossroads of the world . There seems to have been a certain unease in the air a churning just below the surface for a couple of decades now slowly heating to more and more of a fever pitch . Like society is teetering on the precipice and one slip one missed step and a maelstrom of annihilation will be unleashed and spread like a dark cloud covering the surface of the world .

[@wanderer85295]

@@babyfry4775 thank you .

[@charleslatora5750]

thanks for sharing. respects to your family... one uncle served n survived flying in B-29's, bombing Japan. My dad worked at a tractor family that converted to building tank parts. he tried to join a couple of times, but government always sent him back to the suoervisor role he had. my other 3 uncles? never really close to them, so i don't know. one worked for Weber Grill his whole life. never felt comfortable around him. its about time i ask before everyone is gone. myself included.

[@yokoyama7590]

There's a great movie about the Midway battle from the 70's. It's worth a look since now you've seen it from the Japanese perspective.

[@rhiahlMT]

The movie was 'Midway' 1976, with Charlton Heston, Glenn Ford, Robert Mitchum, Henry Fonda. I would say watch 'Tora, Tora, Tora' first though. I think they were better at the overview than the newer versions which focused more on individuals rather than the whole.

[@slimeydon]

The 1976 Midway movie was terrible. Dumb invented characters and a secondary storyline that was not needed

[@rhiahlMT]

@@slimeydon I agree that the secondary storyline was not needed. But, it's there. I enjoyed the movie though.

[@sledgehammerk35]

Midway 2019 would be an awesome movie for your other channel. For the most part it’s very well done in terms of historical accuracy. All the events shown in these videos are depicted in the movie.

[@jamesturner9651]

Second this.

[@mattomara]

It’s one of the most historically accurate movies that’s been made about the Second World War. First class stuff forsure. Instant classic

[@ryanhampson673]

Funny because when it came out a bunch of critics were complaining it had unbelievable scenes in it. It was countered with documentation that all those “unbelievable” scenes actually happened, like the one where the man jumped into the tail gun on the deck and shot down the Japanese bomber or the suicidal attack of the B-26. Truth is stranger than fiction.

[@grumblesa10]

Hard to believe it was a Roland Emmerich film...

[@simontide6780]

Whenever i had bad days, I rethink of myself. Well at least I'm not having bad day like Nagumo. 😂

[@keithcharboneau3331]

The biggest problem with Nagumo's decision that he had to make, and I can understand the factor's that he used to make his decision, is that he was out of time before his decision was even in front of him to make by more than 20 minutes, the strikes from Enterprise, Hornet, and Yorktown were ALREADY in route, although disorganized and chaotic, Nagumo at this point did not even know of the presence of even a single American aircraft carrier, let alone 3 of them, so WHEN he made his decision, he did not have the information that he was ALREADY facing if not yet already under imminent attack, Nagumo's time had already expired.

[@rg20322]

Montemayor is the best with this series and can't say enough about the quality that you are reviewing.

[@rg20322]

Brilliant time frames.

[@wwoods66]

In particular, his Coral Sea video gave me a much clearer idea than I'd had of what had happened.

[@Dannyedelman4231]

Wade Mcclusky was actually fighter pilot and not dive bomber pilot, so he actually had almost ran VT-6 out of gas chasing a Japanese destroyer to the carriers thank goodness for the original Uss nautilus.

[@deeleebee13]

american code breakers had cracked a portion of the japanese codes which allowed them to have the advantage here and set up the suprise attack

[@stevedietrich8936]

Perhaps it will be mentioned in one of the other videos, but the Americans knew that the Japanese were coming, but they didn't know what the target was. The Americans sent out a fake message that the water distillation machinery at Midway wasn't working properly, knowing that the Japanese would intercept the radio message. The Japanese subsequently sent out their own coded message that the water distiller wasn't working properly at AF (as I recall their code name for the target). The Americans were able to intercept and crack Japanese codes. It was at that point that the Americans knew Midway was the target, so the Americans pre-positioned their carrier force closer to Midway.

[@Crazycoyote-we7ey]

In 1998 National Geographic sent combat veterans from the battle of Midway both from Japanese and U.S To locate all the ships that had been sunk They found Akagi, Hiryu, Soryu. They couldn't find the Kaga

[@keith9716]

If you two liked this, I highly recommend you watch the Battle Field 360 episodes. It covers the whole American Pacific campaign from the attack on Pearl Harbor to the bombs being dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It's excellent.

[@jamesturner9651]

If memory serves it actually has interviews with the real pilots.

[@tyreekmurillo4524]

love that show

[@Isolder74]

Enterprise...Enterprise...ENTERPRISE!!!!

[@billbryant9995]

Definitely worth continuing! You really should watch the movie "Midway" as well, the later one from a couple of years ago...

[@Dagobah359]

11:00 Air Force officer here (not naval aviation, but not completely different) - I would have launched a partial strike. If it's going to take about 60 minutes to get 64 aircraft launched while under fire, and I've only got 45 minutes, I can get 48 aircraft into the air and then start landing the Midway strike force, with none of them needing to ditch. While landing that strike force, the 48 can be a large probe/spotting force or a mid-sized strike force depending on what's found. If it is a carrier group to the northeast, I may not get to take out all the carriers but I might get 1 or 2, and it has the potential to disrupt any strike being sent my way. If no carrier group is there, the 48 can return with ordinance - it'll put those planes in more risk and will have cost some fuel and time, but it puts the mission and my ships in least risk. If the planes will be at risk, then the ship and mission already are and I need those aircraft in the air joining the fight. A note on doctrine: The Japanese were taught "fight this way". Modern militaries need to be more flexible. We're taught "fight this way, but then assess the situation/risk this way and adjust as needed". Doctrine is important, it contains lessons from past battles, but the adherence to a certain doctrine is a form of target fixation itself. Being flexible / adaptable keeps your eyes on what's important: accomplishing the mission, not accomplishing it a certain way.

[@ArcticTron]

Yeah I feel like you guys will like the next two episodes. Also you should watch the newer videos Montemayor made like "Battle of Savo Island 1942: America's Worst Naval Defeat" which is personally one of my favorites of his (probably because its also his longest video yet).

[@chrissauter7501]

You should watch the the movie "Midway" from the '76 along with the more recent "Midway"from '19. The original show some of the Japanese perspective and has Charlton Heston, Henry Fonda (known for his westerns), James Coburn, Glenn Ford, Hal Holbrook, Robert Mitchum, Cliff Robertson, Robert Wagner (Hart to Hart), James Shigeta and Pat Morita (bedt known for Mr Myogi from Karate Kid).

[@leemacpeek2698]

The craziest part of this whole attack after the US comitted to sending their carrier fleet was that neither side knew where the other side was. Watch both Midway movies. They compliment each other well. The 2016 has much information that was not available to the makers of the earlier film.

[@NIGHTSHADE1997]

The 3 Yorktown sisters were at the battle of Midway USS Yorktown and her sisters USS Hornet and the famous and legendary USS Enterprise and that A team of pilots mentioned were actually from USS Enterprise

[@Xenogsaga]

The other factor for the torpedo attacks. During this time of the WWII American torpedo's 8 times out of 10 (I think thats the statistic) the torpedo's did the following: Failed to explode, failed to launch, or failed to stay on course. So even if a torpedo hit a IJN ship at the time it wouldn't result in damage.

[@RobertKinard-r9t]

i was honestly enjoying the videos did i miss pt.3

[@INDYANDY4C]

Admiral John Ford Midway movie. He had color footage of the battle. John Ford was a movie director from Hollywood. The USN took him into the USNReserve and wanted him to document their gains, etc…. He did so! Midway is where he was with COLOR FILM! Expensive Color Film! We knew we would eventually win, since we had prior intelligence, but we didn’t know the whole cost.

[@BTinSF]

James: "They must have had a massive tip-off". Oddly, this video doesn't go into that because it's from the Japanese perspective. Perhaps you've seen one of the movies about Midway. But YES, one of the most important things about the battle was that back in Hawaii, a US Navy intelligence officer had been analyzing Japanese message traffic using a partially broken Japanese naval code and he suspected a coming attack. He thought it would be at Midway but wasn't sure so he devised a brilliant strategy to find out. He had the garrison at Midway send out a fake message that their desalinization equipment, on which they depended for fresh water, was broken down. Sure enough, shortly a Japanese message was decoded saying the target of their coming attack was short of fresh water, its desalinization equipment being broken. The US now knew where and when the attack was coming. And that's WHY the US carriers were just northeast of Midway as the Japanese approached, not back in Pearl Harbor.

[@twenty3enigma]

The American fleet had two advantages before the battle had even begun. (1) The Imperial Japanese Naval radio code had been cracked, so the USN knew the Japanese plans, and (2) The American fleet had radar so, in addition to already knowing where to look for the Japanese carriers, they could detect them without having to send out search planes -- which would have alerted the Japanese.

[@iKvetch558]

Radar did give the Americans big advantages in the air battle, but it did not help at all in detecting the Japanese ships near Midway. Since there was no surface action at Midway, all the searching for each other's ships had to be done by aircraft, and there were no airborne radars for detecting ships at that point...at least not being flown on any US Navy aircraft flying in 1942.👍

[@hardtackbeans9790]

I would have done exactly as Nagumo did except turn his ships toward the enemy force. He had long range advantage with his aircraft. He also should have been much more suspicious of extra radio traffic at Midway a week earlier. The US did have a tip-off. They had broken the Japanese code.

[@TheAiskie]

history does tell the best stories... one can't just invent such a scenario

[@mikeg.4211]

A fascinating video and a great reaction! Loved it! :)

[@bobadams179]

When you get a chance watch the original movie 'Midway' with Charlton Hesston Henry Fonda Hal Holbrook and many other stars. Awesome movie. Much better than the new one.

[@Isolder74]

Music by John Williams

[@Farmer_kj]

I have grown up learning about this battle, so I am biased, but in war, whoever strikes first wins. I would have sent the strike. I tend to be more aggressive in these scenarios because the only way u can for sure defend your fleet from another is if that fleet no longer exists.

[@heidikleckawoodward20]

You need to the pearl harbor memorial thry set over the ship uss Arizona, it's bubbling oil.

[@Maya_Ruinz]

11:21 I would have done the recovery for sure, if you have no idea what the enemy force is I would have never ordered an attack and instead sent 2 planes to verify the location of an enemy force. You cant afford any planes getting ditched especially thousands of miles from any safe harbor, for all you know you may have to retreat and may need planes to protect an escape.

[@simontide6780]

The last assault was purely luck. Because two assault groups weren't supposed to hit at the same time. Only the first group was lost and purely by chance they found the battleship that rejoin Kiddo butai and other taskforce arrived at the same time and they're all dive bombers. Meaning so fucking fast planes unlike torpedo bombers. Nagumo was definitely having a worst day in history of mankind.

[@cliffcannon]

Knowledgable experts (which I am not) have suggested the equipment and doctrine of the Kido Butai was well suited to hit-and-run raiding attacks, but totally unsuited to carrier-opposed air-sea battles, mainly because the carrier force was able to attack _or_ defend, but not both at the same time. What _might_ have worked-but was perhaps impossible for the proud, offensive-minded IJN even to consider-could have been to dedicate the heavy carriers to offense only and add to the fleet a number of light carriers armed only with fighters to defend the heavy carriers (and themselves). That way the light carrier flight decks would always be available to recover, refuel, and rearm fleet-defense fighters while the heavy carriers could arm, spot, and launch offensive strikes without needing to clear their flight decks to maintain the combat air patrol.

[@BTinSF]

At this point in the war, the US was still learning how to fight. Among other things, the torpedos we had were defective and often failed to explode. Also, many of our planes were old and greatly outclassed by the Japanese planes. And as this video said in part 1, the Japanese pilots were much more experienced, their country having been at war in China for years.

[@Maeshalanadae]

Midway was kind of the start of a domino effect of US victories across the islands out there. But I think Guadalcanal is considered one of the bloodiest and highest loss battles out there. Iwo Jima was another hard one.

[@JoeXTheXJuggalo1]

Also to me this was the 3 link in the change of events that was part of the downfall of the Japanese in the Pacific.

[@Mkproduction2]

I dated Ensign George Gays daughter, when I was in High School.. I'm 6'5 football lineman that drove a 1969 Buick, Special Deluxe Station Wagon....... Yeah he HATED me..😂😂😂😂

[@stonecutter3172]

I need to bring this up as I have not seen or heard it mentioned. Those planes also had a tail gunner and a navagator/radio operator. 3 men per plane for the torpedo bombers. By the way at this time in the war the US torpedos were ABSOLUTE CRAP and didn't work. The attacks as they happened WERE NOT planned they just did. Also what is not often mentioned is the number of pilots trained by Japan each year. ONLY 100 pilots were graduated from flight school a year. So between the Battle of Coral Sea, Midway and the rest of 1942 anywhere between 5 and 6 years of trained pilots were killed. That is half or more than half of their trained force LOST in one year.

[@HemlockRidge]

The Douglass TBD "Devastator", which was the finest Torpedo Bomber in the world in the 1930s, was woefully obsolete in 1942. After Midway, they were withdrawn from service, replaced by the Grumman TBF "Avenger", a superior aircraft. I don't feel like getting into the problems the US had with their MK 14 torpedos, which would hit and not explode.

[@srqlisa7881]

The history channel showing the USA side also explains the decision making and the psychological thinking of the Japanese. FYI: the Japanese are still in the mindset of the people of Samurai. 😊😊

[@danbarry4772]

America did know. AF is Midway.

[@theblackbear211]

The thing about the American attacks is that is not how they were planned - the disjointed attacks were the result of planes initially being sent in the wrong direction, and of navigational errors. the challenges of navigating over the open ocean, and trying to find a target that is moving in directions that you have no way of knowing for sure, is much more difficult that is easily imagined.

[@uctruongnguyen9181]

After you finish reacting to the Battle of Midway(all 3 part of them), please react to World War 2 navy comparison video. From there, you can learn how large the navy is of every countries in World War 2

[@JoeXTheXJuggalo1]

As reacting to these videos and uploaded another part. So im watched the previous 2. The US planes may of not done too well fighting off the Japanese but due to their multiple attacks it delayed the Japanese and eventually became their downfall. Also from me knowing the historic events of this ill have to say that the delay of the launch of that one japanese scout/spotter plane was fait that it happened like that. People say "oh it was a set back delay was the reason for it". I personally say there was more then that. Like it happened for a reason. Like it was meant to play out like that because of the powers above.

[@chrissauter7501]

Midway was the turning point in the war for the Allies. Everything was going bad for the Allies in the Pacific until this battle. I will say though that the creator of the video you watched left out some key info/misrepresented it. But it would more cover Part 1 though. The battle of coral sea, a tactical draw but a strategic victory for the Allies, was the impetus for the whole Midway plan. Along with he forgot to tie the operations in the Aleutians. The Aleutians operation was the bait for the American carriers. While they "were transiting" to help there, Midway strike would happen and then our carriers would be caught between 2 naval forces.

[@jeremyseaton3314]

Forget the dilemma. I think before the dilemma the dreadful mistake was trying too hard to send the second wave so soon. He never should have removed the torpedoes in the first place.

[@flashcar60]

The US Navy knew that the Kido Butai was coming, since they had broken the Japanese Navy code JN25.

[@0maj0hns0n3]

The thing is the overall goal of the Japanese since Pearl Harbor was the American carriers. So it puts more emphasis on the carrier strike

[@Alex-kd5xc]

Nagumo’s dilemma is a tough situation. As Millie said, she wouldn’t be able to change the plan on the fly and would rather stick with what had already been decided. However, this arguably is the same kind of inflexibility and rigidity that you guys did not like about Nagumo’s apparent leadership style at the beginning of the video. This isn’t a critique of you both, it just shows how complicated these things can be and how easily you can slip into bad decisions that you would otherwise have thought of as straightforward if you didn’t have this context.

[@Anon54387]

But didn't Nagumo flip and flop then flip back again? That ultimately cost more time than it would've been just to stay pat, not that I (as an American) mind that Nagumo made these mistakes.

[@Gutslinger]

I thought they said what they didn't like was his indecisiveness. Not that he couldn't stick to the plan, or make changes to the plan.

[@shawnharbert5390]

One of the pilots recovered from the ocean was Pres. George Bush Sr.

[@JH-sj4pf]

Has part 3 been posted yet?

[@GenX1964]

Good Stuff guys. Thanks. 🇺🇸 🫡 🇬🇧

[@Ranadicus]

All of your questions will be answered by the end of the third video

[@johnniejupiter]

Much more amazingly than all those torpedo bombers sacrificing themselves and not hitting anything, was that the torpedoes they carried were very faulty. At the time, I think only 10% of these torpedoes would operate and explode properly. American torpedo tech was so bad, they phased out launchers on the ships they were building altogether. It was the dive bombers that were hell from above.

[@cynthiaalver]

I've been a WW2 history freak since I was a kid. When I was 14 or 15 I remember thinking that Nagumo should have gone for the carriers first because Midway island wasn't going anywhere. Now, of course, I know that there are far more variables to consider. But, I have a hard time cutting him some slack because I still think he lost the war for Japan when he failed to order a third strike at Pearl Harbor. He was concerned that the US carriers would suddenly appear and his task force might be decimated. I think he should have gone after the dry docks, oil tanks and repair facilities at Pearl. That was the only chance they were going to get and the Japanese navy had worked for a year on the Pearl Harbor attack. Nagumo was known as a conservative commander. If he had chosen a bolder action plan at Pearl and Midway the war in the Pacific may have been decidedly different. I know, I have the benefit of hindsight but it just MAKES SENSE to me to be bold and not timid when forcing a war on another country.

[@iKvetch558]

Don't blame Nagumo for the lack of a third strike...there really was not even a plan for a third strike in Yamamoto's plan. The fault for not realizing that the infrastructure of Pearl Harbor was the much more important target for Japan to hit rests with Yamamoto, who was entirely focused on sinking ships and had zero aircraft set aside to go after infrastructure targets in the 2 planned attack waves. Granted, Nagumo had the option of ordering another attack, and ran away out of fear of the US carriers as you said, but there never really was much chance that a man of his thinking was going to figure out anything that Yamamoto had already gotten wrong before him.👍

[@cynthiaalver]

@@iKvetch558 I can appreciate that. The choice of Nagumo to lead the strike force may be where it all started to go wrong. The commander on the scene is the one who holds history in his hands.

[@iKvetch558]

@@cynthiaalver True...but I think it is important to always make allowances for those battles in which the commander in the scene is not the overall commander of the battle, or when the commander on the scene was working off of a plan made by someone else...especially in Navies where following orders is much more emphasized than personal initiative. Also, from my understanding, Yamamoto had little choice in Nagumo's appointment to command of the carriers because Nagumo had seniority. I could be wrong, but I think that Yamamoto would have preferred Ozawa.

[@PrayerfullyBlessedMama]

Don’t be ashamed of being excited- war movies are popular for a reason and it fills us with patriotism and honor for the lives willingly given to protect innocents and freedom.

[@jasonb5359]

With so many comments, apologies if someone already said this. The US had managed to figure out through intercepted communications that an attack was going to happen, but didn't know exactly where (the Japanese were using a codename). So the US, knowing that their own communications were also being intercepted, sent out a bogus message about Midway, and when they received a msg back, repeating what they said but using the codename, were able to confirm the Japanese target.

[@peggyfeeney4393]

Watch the 1976 version of the movie Midway.

[@Liz-sz2ee]

Part of the Japanese issues is that they had no fire fighting expertise on their ships. I think in their hubris they never expected to be nit. One on the things that saved the US fleet was ability to fight fires and repair their ships. In the long run, the way they trained their pilots was also problematic for them. It took years to train a pilot, so lost pilots outdoor not be easily replaced. The allies also had radar, and took much less time to train their groups. Add the industrial might of the allies, the Japanese had a real problem on their hands. Of course, it helped that the US knew the target, without that knowledge this battle would probably have had a completely different outcome.

[@johnniejupiter]

"L'audace, l'audace, tojours l'audace." Fate (in war) belongs to the bold, so always go bold

[@BorchikYes]

I knew what happend before but if you have the info nagumo had i would have gone safe too.

[@ballhawk387]

Given the extra time it would take for the US forces to close, my thought would have been to launch the strike armed as they were, stow the unarmed planes, recover the aircraft, keeping them ready to engage in case of an oncoming surprise attack. My main impression from this account is how the US threw wave after wave at the Japanese, creating continual disruption, whether by design or happenstance. US forces also excelled at improvisation. The Americans *did* know the KIdo Butai was coming, in that they had broken the Japanese code, and were equipped with radar, so they had a *huge* timing advantage unbeknownst to the Japanese until it was too late.. Also, the Americans kept their elite squadrons to later in the battle, a shrewd move to take advantage of the disruption all the more..

[@arthurplane9682]

Something not very obvious is the difficulty for searching the seas for the enemy. There was no effective airborne radar, shipboard radar was rudimentary on the US side and non-exsistant for the Japanese. The search areas were absolutely massive, and ships were camouflaged against airborne search. Also, weather played a massive part, as search aircraft flying low could not see as large an area as they could at altitude. High up... see farther and more but harder to spot but blocked by poor weather ... low down ... see things right away but only if they were practically in front of you and risky in bad weather due to possible ditching. Therefore Nagumo's choice for a light search pattern was a ( in hindsight ) poor choice.

[@laynecox3992]

Very good, once you get done with this series, may I suggest "Task Force Taffy 3".

[@collinscody57]

When your dealing with large explosives I don't think rushing is a wise idea

[@Pugiron]

If he used two carriers for attacking midway and kept two carriers ready to attack naval targets, he could have done both at once and things would have gone differently

[@mongosaqqara]

We lost hundreds of our beautiful American boys here...its sad to think how expendable they were in this war....truly sad.

[@havensmm9308]

You have only half the battle. You need to complete Parts 2 and 3 to get the full history. I will wait. Thanks!

[@WaywardVet]

I was a scout, so obviously my decision... launch a lone scout to confirm what we're looking at. (Oh, and we totally knew ahead of time. We sent a fake message that the island was low on fresh water. As soon as our code breakers confirmed that they heard, we knew their code name for the island.)

[@LancerX916]

The Americans had broken the Japanese code and even set a trap for the Japanese to attack Midway. That was why all the US carriers were out to sea and north of Midway.

[@gametime1247]

Y’all should react to sabaton a Swedish band that sings about history and it is really good

[@justinadams6523]

No part 3?

[@theycallmehoipilloi5495]

If I had been assigned to a Devastator, well, pretty much any torpedo plane I would have told the officers to shoot me right then and get it over with. The funny thing about the Navy attacks was that it was a disorganized mess. The whole attack was supposed to have formed up together from all of the carriers and gone in all at once. Torpedo 8 was supposed to have an escort but they never linked up. Cmdr. Waldron said the heck with it, we're going anyway. When the dive bombers arrived it was almost chaos. Bombers from different ships were running across each other and the whole thing was confusion. As it turned out, as one can see from the video, the haphazard timing of the separate attacks actually worked out, as Nagumo never got the time to organize an attack.

[@fredferris2829]

Where part 3 of battle of Midway

[@Robertz1986]

This battle was the decisive battle of the Pacific. The Americans knew the Japanese were coming. This battle broke Japan's navy for the rest of the war.

[@ជួងសុវណ្ណគីរីរាជ្យ]

I know you guys always choose video That have a good side about American But even American also respect them You guys should react to this video it’s a good one to learn Something new . The Battle of the Coral Sea 1942: The First Aircraft Carrier Battle in History

[@wordkyle]

I read that the Nazis had little respect for American soldiers. What defeated then were the massive numbers of machinery, aircraft, and American production. With this video we saw the massive losses the Americans took, yet they still had the numbers, both in pilots and aircraft (along with carriers) to ultimately prevail. That's the "sleeping giant" Admiral Yamamoto spoke of.

[@lonniehhenson7925]

I would suggest watch The Hell cat vs the Zero The Hell cat shot down 53 hundred zero came known as the Zero killer

[@gametime1247]

Y’all should watch the movie midway 2019

[@jamesbednar8625]

Awesome reaction video!! Have been reading/studying about this battle since I was a little kid growing up in the 1970s and what Nagumo went through never ceases to amaze me!! Probably what I would have done was LAUNCH the air attack against the American ships immediately with whatever type of bombs or torpedoes already loaded. Yes - lots of those aircraft had bombs loaded that are used against land targets, but they could still do some damage to ships, especially the WOODEN DECKS of American aircraft carriers. LAUNCH what you had ready and that would keep the Americans busy avoiding attacks like the Japanese have been doing all morning. The opposing aircraft would most likely have literally passed each other while flying to their respective targets. However, there still is the dilemma of the Japanese aircraft returning from the Midway attack while under attack from the Americans. There really was a NO WIN situation for Nagumo unless he had the T-I-M-E which eventually ran out. Whether launching early or doing what Nagumo had done probably would not have made that much of a difference except that the Americans were constantly attacking, not giving the Japanese time to breath - at least by launching whatever was ready with whatever they had loaded, the Japanese probably would not have suffered those devastating hits from the American bombers. Also, Japanese strict compliance to doctrine actually kept 1important aircraft carrier out of the battle, the ZUIKAKU, which was at the Battle of the Coral Sea. The ships airwing to heavy losses that could have been replenished from her sister ship SHOKAKU, which was damaged during that same battle. Had the Japanese transferred the relatively intact airwing, they could have had a 5th aircraft carrier for this battle. The Americans were able to transfer the airwing from USS SARATOGA (CV-3), thus seeing VT-3 VB-3 VS-3 on the maps. USS SARATOG was damaged by an enemy torpedo and heading stateside for repairs. SARATOGAs airwing was basically the ONLY airwing the Americans had trained enough for the upcoming battle and was transferred to USS YORKTOWN (CV-5) in order to give that aircraft carrier an airwing (hers was devastated at Coral Sea). Other American aircraft carriers at Midway were USS ENTERPRISE (CV-6) and USS HORNET (CV-8). Suggest checking out videos from the following You Tube channels concerning this battle and Pearl Harbor: The Operations Room Kings and Generals World War II with Indy Nadel

[@sammurphy3343]

Japan in ww2 had serious operational flaws. They made plans that success was only possible with complete surprise. Also their plans were overly complicated and when opposed the plans wouldn't work.

[@Giovith13]

Why is the 3rd video private?

[@mtdualie1039]

Most of the airplanes the US had were obsolete and were due for replacing by new models in the next year. To say that we Americans were caught flat footed for the first half of the Pacific War is accurate.

[@tyreekmurillo4524]

you guys should watch the 2019 movie midway

[@ជួងសុវណ្ណគីរីរាជ្យ]

People that think Japan Only used kamikaze It’s mean they never study about this war properly They lose because they don’t have Enough Resource to make more weapon like American did .

[@ChrisRobbins1231]

Re 11:11 Decision, without knowing what happens here (other than of course America wins the War lol) My initial response would be a cop out answer which is immediately launch a task force of a smaller group of planes so that you still have some in reserves and you are not risking the Recovery Window for Tomonaga, while still allowing for having planes in the air. My thought process is this- 1: If you recover, you are more or less taking a risk in itself that you have more or less 0 planes in the air (other than the low fuel ones you are going to recover) that will be unable to EITHER Attack the Shipping group, Midway, OR Defend the 4 Japan Ships. So the confidence in evasive maneuvers at this point has to be incredibly high while recovering and you have to have a ton of faith and belief that your ships can withstand another potential attack from Midway. 2: As Nagumo in this case, I think you have to consider the idea that the Shipping Group is the more immediate threat to Japan in that moment and that the second strike on Midway becomes more or less second priority not only to the Ships but also the defense of the Japan ships, which in that moment should be first priority to me. 3: The worst case scenario here is that Nagumo gets stuck more or less unable to relaunch the Planes that are being Recovered due to an American Strike on the Ships, or possibly they are going to be prevented from being able to recover due to an Incoming Attack. The biggest risk available at that moment would be not having planes in the air to defend against an American Air Attack. You can not afford to lose a Ship with Planes and Pilots on board. If you lose some planes due to Ditching, you lose a couple planes due to a failed Reconnaissance, etc. you are minimizing losses to a few planes and pilots which sucks in the moment but mitigates the greater overall risk threat of the possibility of a much greater risk, which would be losing far worse. I may be missing something here or the opposite and overthinking this, but to me, the first thing I would do would be to send a small Attack Force out. If the estimate was 10 Ships, then you can afford to spare roughly 10 of the Reserve Planes that have the proper ordinances without a particularly massive risk involved. Imo the worst case is that those planes are defeated and you lose 10 of them but at least you launched them the same as if they had been attacked while on the Carrier while also getting the heads up and notice of the threat, or, you launched them to find that there was no threat and the Recon Plane was inaccurate and you more or less have planes in the air as a defense mechanism to protect against risk and you just have some minor recovery to do on those planes in terms of refueling but in a case of no threat no damage or bomb replacements or anything along those lines.

[@Aeolusdallas]

I know but if i didnt id say recover the planes

[@udikai7799]

every move tho ineffective in attack drove Japan into position for dive bombers.

[@andrewchristopher7138]

Hi

[@lockaby1]

Check outthe movie MIDWAY starring Charlton Heston Henry Fonda James Coburn Glenn Ford Hal Holbrook its a good movie about this attack